Key Takeaways:
- DHS highlights the need for better coordination among agencies serving international students.
- Communication and coordination challenges were apparent with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- DHS laid out recommendations on how to improve the coordination among the agencies involved.
The 2021 annual report of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to the US Congress, dated June 30, highlights the need for better coordination among agencies to serve international students.
The state of international student administration in the United States is complex as it involves multiple government agencies, such as the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), and the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
With an approximate number of 1,075,496 international students living in the United States for the previous academic year, DHS underscored its vision in ensuring that international students come and remain in the United States for legitimate reasons.
Navigating the COVID-19 Pandemic Landscape
One of the major challenges that educational institutions in the US faced is the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which tested the whole system’s capacities and approaches dependent on interagency coordination.
As early as March 2020, international students were affected by travel restrictions. Due to this, many new students have put off their enrollment, and returning students decided to attend their online classes outside the US instead.
Coordination and Communication Barriers
DHS also tackled the exceptional communication and coordination challenges brought about by the pandemic. These challenges led to delays in issuing pandemic guidance to international students, inaccessibility and lack of information, insufficient coordination between USCIS and SEVP, and delays in OPT receipts that alarmed many.
Solution: Better Program Oversight
In response, DHS laid out recommendations to address these challenges. One of these is for USCIS and SEVP to take necessary steps to improve oversight of the program by enhancing the overall student experience and making it easier for DSOs to fulfill their responsibilities.
DHS has recommended having an effective working group involving headquarters and field participants and eliminating communication barriers between DSOs and USCIS to foster better collaboration. Moreover, DHS also forwarded the need to enhance training for DSOs to improve understanding of advanced issues and fraud.
Read more:
- US Institutions Figure Out Vaccine Requirement Challenges for International Students
- US Continues to Reopen; Ready to Accept Fully Vaccinated Students for In-Person Learning
- Indian Students Exempted from US Travel Ban
- A Growing List of US Colleges Issue Blanket Vaccine Requirements
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